National Poetry Month Giveaway: L.A. by Luke Rathborne

Luke Rathborne is a musician and poet reminiscent of another poet/musician I know. First I’d like you to check out this video of his single “Dog Years,” as performed at Three Clubs, Hollywood, California:

I hope you enjoyed the music because I’ve got an approved MP3 download of “You Let Me In” for you. All you have to do is use the following password once you get to the site: letmeinLR

And you know that as a poet, I can’t just post about Luke’s songs or videos, especially when its National Poetry Month. I’ve got an excerpt of one of his poems, “The Cowboy Song,” but please check out a full poem, “Calypso,” from Luke on Saturday during the Virtual Poetry Circle.

From The Cowboy Song by Luke Rathborne

Cut me free,
Cut me free of the sun,
Sand, dirt
tail-whip
feel the wind
have a dream of that far off place
out on the lake,
don’t need to tell you where . . .

Now that you’ve been properly introduced, don’t you think Luke’s poetry and music is something you should have? Well, you are in luck because in honor of National Poetry Month, he’s offering my US/Canada readers a chance to win 1 signed copy of L.A. (his poetry) and a limited vinyl press of his music.

To Enter:

1. Leave a comment on this post about who you think Luke Rathborne sounds most like when he sings or what you think of his poetry.

2. Blog, Tweet, Facebook, etc. the giveaway, leave a link, and receive a second entry.

Deadline April 30, 2011 May 14, 2011, at 11:59PM EST.

About Luke Rathborne (from Paul Gargano):

Luke Rathborne writes songs about life, and life is rarely simple, neat and easy.

On his Dog Years / I Can Be One split-EP, the singer-songwriter defies today’s cookie cutter flavors, preferring to hold true to his artistic vision – a vision that embraces the zen of Leonard Cohen and the weathered tone of Bob Dylan, basking both in a heady aura of dialed-down pop exuberance.

“Hopefully, people will see the difference in the music here,” says the 23 year-old troubadour of his ambitious release. “They are two groups of songs that belong with each other, but not necessarily together. As an artist, you really have to think about the way you’re putting a record together, and it’s got to be done in a way that interests people – if you think, in your gut, that you’re just going to smash songs together and call them a record . . . that’s just material, that’s not a record.”

Dog Years embraces Rathborne’s more pop aesthetic – not shiny, happy pop, but effervescent, melancholic pop. The title track offers a cynical poke to not letting the ‘dog years’ pass you by, and If you hear a bit of Dylan in the New Yorker’s tone, you aren’t mistaken. He also cites a lot of ‘60s and ‘70s music like the Kinks and the Beatles as impacting those early tracks, written as a teenager in Maine.

The material from the second set was penned following Rathborne’s move to New York City after high school. . . . “The second EP is more of a reaction to living in New York, and it’s a lot more personal and minimal,” he says. “It’s like battery acid – people are really freaked and don’t know what to do with it.”

You can connect with Luke Rathborne on Facebook, MySpace, and Twitter, and you can check out his music on iTunes and on his Website.